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Brighton. A word that sends shivers down those hardy United fans who made the 260-mile journey to the Amex in May and August. To see two pitiful performances.

Time and time again, Jose Mourinho reminded his players about his 'golden rules' - matching the aggression, motivation and desire of the opponent - but it often fell on deaf ears during the final eight months of his reign.

United had a serious issue when it came to going into games as favourites and Newcastle, West Brom, West Ham (twice), Brighton (twice), Wolves, Crystal Palace and Southampton all took points off Mourinho in 2018.

What happened against Brighton, though, was particularly alarming. The two visits to the Amex were just 108 days apart yet United did not learn their lesson after what happened in May.

On paper, that was a fairly meaningless game for United with the title already out of reach but a win would have meant needing just one point from their final two league games to seal second place.

Also, Mourinho wanted to give some of his fringe players the chance to stake a claim for a place in the FA Cup final a couple of weeks later. No one took their chance.

"For 10 months I get asked 'why always Lukaku? Why always Lukaku, why always Lukaku? Why always this player? That guy doesn't have a chance to start, the other one is on the bench.' You know why now," Mourinho hissed at reporters post-match.

Mourinho felt his side should have been 10 points better off last season - they did lose to all three newly-promoted sides for the first time in a single top-flight season - but United never got over that affliction. If anything, it got worse in 2018-19.

On their next visit to the Amex, in August, United went into half-time 3-1 down. Brighton had not mustered a single shot on target in their previous game against Watford yet completely shocked United with the intensity they played with.

It was a lesson, alright, but United went on to win just five of their next 15 league games under Mourinho, failing to beat Wolves, West Ham, Crystal Palace and Southampton in the process.

That is why United's critics were missing the point when they said Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had an 'easy' start as interim manager. Cardiff, Huddersfield, Bournemouth and Newcastle were teams who caused United trouble at various points under Mourinho.

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